I had been experimenting with some new descriptions for the story, and I think I'm pretty happy with the new final summary. Please feel free to express your critiques in the comments!
The camp following the gym battle was everything any of them could have wished for. They had all participated, in their own way, to the extremely wet battle and none had been hurt beyond a few bumps and bruises. While the collective team was used to winning these battles, this meant that they were all happily able to revel in their win and take a well-deserved break. Espir even noticed that Letos was in high spirits, which was possibly the best news out of the bunch!
Following their customary trip to the Pokécenter, Alexis had left the team in the hotel room. She'd rushed off to who knows where, but she didn't seem to be in a negative mental space, like she had been the previous evening.
After a short while of waiting, the Pokémon all greeted Alexis on her arrival to the hotel room, but she was in much too much of a rush to slow down.
"Come on!" She urged, ushering the Pokémon out of the room. "We don't have long to check out of this room. We only got it for one night, remember? Anyone who would rather be in a Pokéball, raise a limb."
Alexis returned both Staravia and Letos into their respective Pokéballs with a quick red flash. Following that, she went back to shooing the other two Pokémon out of the hotel as fast as she could- with a quick detour to the reception desk to hand in the room key.
"Why the rush?" Espir asked Shane, who looked just as confused as he did.
Shane of course, shrugged as best as he could with his non-humanoid limbs.
"Dang, I need to get used to that," Shane mumbled, though the three of them were still hustling across the city as if they had just stolen from a bank.
"Alexis, why the rush?" Espir asked, though she wasn't really listening- as if she could understand him, anyway. Espir just had to be content with rolling his eyes and keeping pace with the trainer.
Shortly after they had left the city, seemingly going back up north, but now in a westerly direction instead of back East, Alexis finally slowed down to a stop, breathing heavily.
"This feels like a quiet enough spot, right?" Alexis asked, having to speak slowly, in between her huffs of catching her breath.
"Quiet enough for what?" Espir replied.
"I don't think anyone would be rushing by this area any time soon," Alexis said, looking around. They had deviated off the main path, so that they were hidden by a few trees for a little bit of solitude.
Espir had to admit, Alexis had picked a good spot. Just across from their clearing was a steep drop that could be classed as a cliff, even if it was a short one. Rushing over that cliff, however, was a rich, blue waterfall. They were sat reasonably close to the river that became that waterfall, so they had a brilliant view out at the glistening sea, sparkling under the early afternoon sun.
The weather had decided to relent and grant them a toasty warm day, bright and beautiful. Once again, Espir was grateful that he had been given a slow introduction to such bright, sunny weather, as he still preferred the shade. There was plenty of shade underneath the trees that had granted them the isolated area. But why were they there? Espir couldn't figure out why Alexis was acting the way she was.
"Just need to get the others back out," Alexis mumbled to herself, fiddling with her bag. As she did, she reached behind her and clicked the buttons on the Pokéballs to release Staravia and Letos, who were still confused about the rushing around, too.
"What's going on?" Letos asked, but both Espir and Shane could only shrug and point at Alexis who was still rummaging around in her bag.
"It's all there… lovely," Alexis said to herself, before turning around with a flourish. "As a reward for all of your amazing efforts in the last battle, and for helping me through my… yeah- I thought we could all use a little rest and relaxation. This entire afternoon will be dedicated to… a picnic!"
As Alexis said the final words, she pulled a hand out of her bag and unfurled a large red and white picnic blanket, all in one fluid motion. She kneeled down on the blanket, urging the others to join her, as she started to produce all sorts of goodies from within the bag.
"I did a little food shop before we left the city," Alexis winked, as the Pokémon all eyed the variety of deliciousness hungrily.
Espir found it astonishing how readily he found he was hungry after being presented with food. It was as if he had just forgotten about feeling hungry at all until this moment.
"Tuck in!" Alexis said, crunching down on a bright, red apple.
Three of the Pokémon needed no more encouragement, rushing in and helping themselves to the different sandwiches, berries and fruits that were available. Espir, after a couple bites, noticed that Shane wasn't helping himself to any of the food, but instead looking out at the sea.
He quietly walked over to Shane and offered him some of his own sandwich.
"Hey, wanna talk?" Espir asked.
"I'm not hungry," Shane said, though Espir could tell that he was. Through his sense of others' feelings, he could tell the issue lay deeper within than just a simply lack of appetite.
"What's on your mind?" He asked, looking out to sea, too.
"Home."
"What about it?" Espir asked, though not in an unkind way, but a curious one.
"It doesn't feel fair," Shane said, sighing and accepting that he was going to have this conversation whether he wanted to or not. "I can't imagine my family is feeling too good about me not being there with them, right now. Yet, while they worry and grieve, here I am- sunning it up at a picnic."
"It isn't your fault," Espir said.
"Doesn't change how I view it, though. What happens if we spend too much time chilling at this picnic and Mew returns to collect?"
"She won't," Espir said with a steely confidence, her very name irritating him. "I'll make sure of it."
"What if she's the only way for me to get back home? She only wants to take me on to wherever I'm meant to be, but she's also the only one I can think of that has the ability to take me back to my family."
"Then we'll find another way," Espir said.
"How do you know?"
"I don't," Espir shrugged, "but there's no harm in hope."
"There is," Shane said, shaking his head. "Hoping only makes the pain sting more when you fail."
"Then we won't fail," Espir chuckled, though he wasn't sure if it was a genuine chuckle at the simplicity of his statement, or one to hide how he truly felt. He decided to try and divert the conversation. "Look, these are all big, important things, but there's nothing we can do about them right now. Come back to the picnic, eat something, so that you can maintain your strength for when you are able to affect change upon your fate. Okay?"
Shane took a moment to continue watching the waves, tiny from this far away, before nodding and sighing. He turned with Espir and returned to the picnic. Staravia handed him a sandwich, which was a sight to see, considering she held it with her claws and he had no hands to hold it.
"It takes some getting used to," Espir laughed and the other Pokémon laughed, too. Alexis didn't understand what they were laughing at, but she joined in anyway. There was a certain magic in laughter. A contagious medicine that either cured certain emotions, or did a very good job at masking them.
Espir kept tabs on everyone's feelings throughout the afternoon, but- for once- everyone was having a good time for the entire time.
"What's next?" Letos asked Alexis, as the afternoon was gradually winding down into evening. The sea was slowly getting painted orange by the setting sun.
"Onto the next gym badge," Alexis said with a sigh. "Shouldn't be too difficult, however, as it's a Ghost type gym. Our little party over here is perfect for taking it on."
"Finally, a good matchup," Letos agreed.
"Only if we hit them first," Espir said, "and if Shane is willing to get in some practice. We'll likely need both of us to make the most of our composition."
"I'll do it," Shane said, nodding. Espir could feel determination rolling off of his half-human companion. Espir smiled encouragingly at him, knowing what sort of bravery that decision took.
Once the sun was down, the picnic ended quite swiftly, with all the Pokémon full to the brim with food, Alexis as well. Satisfied and happy with their celebratory feast, they all simply went to sleep on the blanket. Even Letos and Staravia stayed out, not returning to their Pokéballs.
Waking up the next morning, however, was a little less pleasant. The rain hit fast and hard, pushing the party to pack up and take cover under the trees quickly. Espir had to admit that it was an effective alarm clock. From the looks of it, the sun had barely risen.
"Who wants to hop in Pokéballs for the walk up to Hearthome City?" Alexis asked the group, having to shout slightly to be heard over the rain. Letos and Staravia, once again, hopped into their Pokéballs in a flash- though Espir didn't blame them considering how rough the weather was.
As the rain showed no sign of stopping, Alexis, Shane and Espir decided to face the music and started to trudge their unpleasant path up North, towards their next destination. Hearthome City, where the ghosts awaited them.